taxes, please help

Jackolantern said:
Then don't bother to file, unless you had certain transactions the IRS would be interested in, like you sold stocks or real estate.
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It will be funny if USCIS ask for evidence to show you did not have any income.

It seems you can get two kinds of records from IRS about a tax year. One is tax return transcripts which exist only if you file tax return that year.
The other kind if record of account. The second kind you may still to get even if you did not file. It can show your had no income or
very low income and even posted W-2 1099 etc. You can use these to show you did not need to file tax return that year
 
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Will there be a problem if I don't file jointy this year for 2009? So I have 2006 jointly, 2007 jointly, 2008 jointly, 2009 seperately. Is that a problem when I file for citizenship based on a 5 year rule?
 
marie_travel said:
Will there be a problem if I don't file jointy this year for 2009? So I have 2006 jointly, 2007 jointly, 2008 jointly, 2009 seperately. Is that a problem when I file for citizenship based on a 5 year rule?
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As long as IRS allow it. Then it should be OK. What USCIS are concerned with tax issue are
(1) Does the applicant violate IRS rule
(2) Does the applicant call himse a nonresident
(3) Does filing nonjoitly indicate marriage problem when the applicationis married based.

SO in your case, if IRS allow it, then USCIS should be OK with it. USCIS
can not interprete tax law on their own just like IRS cannot interprete immigration law in their own way.
 
marie_travel said:
Will there be a problem if I don't file jointy this year for 2009?
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You will be filing for citizenship based on the regular 5 year rule, so USCIS will not be expecting you to file taxes jointly.

With a pending divorce, it actually could be a problem (with IRS, not USCIS) if you still file jointly. Because if there are issues on the return because of numbers and papers related to him, the IRS can come after you if it's a joint return. It's better to keep your taxes separate from his unless you will save/gain a large amount of money by filing jointly.
 
He has not filed for divorce yet, but it's only a matter of time. So how should I file taxes this year? Jointly or seperately? Let's say we do it jointly and THEN he files for divorce. After he files for divorce, there is a 90 day cooling of period. Now does that mean that divorce is already in process? Because many couples reconsile during that 90 day window.
If we do it seperately, and then get back together, will that be red flags for IRS and USCIS? I'm just so confused.
 
marie_travel said:
If we do it seperately, and then get back together, will that be red flags for IRS and USCIS? I'm just so confused.
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It is not a red flag for USCIS. You are filing N-400 with the 5 year rule, so they don't care if your marriage is going bad at this time. And they won't expect you to file jointly with a pending divorce.

I don't know if IRS allows filing jointly one year then separately the next year then back to jointly the year after that. Ask on a tax forum. But if you file jointly, the IRS can hold you liable for his mistakes, and it may be difficult or impossible for you to obtain the receipts and information from him after you're divorced. So you'll be taking that risk if you file jointly for 2009.
 
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Jackolantern said:
It is not a red flag for USCIS. You are filing N-400 with the 5 year rule, so they don't care if your marriage is going bad at this time. And they won't expect you to file jointly with a pending divorce.

I don't know if IRS allows filing jointly one year then separately the next year then back to jointly the year after that. Ask on a tax forum. But if you file jointly, the IRS can hold you liable for his mistakes, and it may be difficult or impossible for you to obtain the receipts and information from him after you're divorced. So you'll be taking that risk if you file jointly for 2009.
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Yes, follow Jackolantern's advice. It does not seem you need to be concerned
with tax for the purpose of establish marriage valididty and continous resident/physical presence issue so you only need to follow IRS rules
and consult a PCA or go to a tax forum. Everything acceptable by IRS
should be acceptable by USCIS. And the net time a USCIS spend on
reviewing your file and interview is typically 10-20 minutes and I doubt
they bother to look at your tax record and even if they look, they may just take a quick glance.
 
You may want to get the tax transcripts if any, just because you didn’t sign a tax return doesn’t mean your spouse didn’t file a joint return. One can file an electronic return without any actual signature
 
Thank you everybody for your help. Does USCIS need to be informed of the pending divorce? Let's say at the time of the interview for citizenship, the divorce is not finalized yet. Do I have to tell them that or keep quiet?
 
marie_travel said:
Thank you everybody for your help. Does USCIS need to be informed of the pending divorce? Let's say at the time of the interview for citizenship, the divorce is not finalized yet. Do I have to tell them that or keep quiet?
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When applying with the 5-year rule, they normally won't ask about that, and you don't have to tell them unless they ask.
 
divorce

If at the time of citizenship interview, my divorce is not finalized yet and I don't have a divorce decree, will that delay my application and oath? Do they need a divorce decree before I can take the oath? Please anybody with similar experience.
 
marie_travel said:
If at the time of citizenship interview, my divorce is not finalized yet and I don't have a divorce decree, will that delay my application and oath? Do they need a divorce decree before I can take the oath? Please anybody with similar experience.
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If the divorce is not final, it means you are still legally married, and you should show the marriage certificate if asked.

If the divorce is final, then you need to let them know, and you should show the divorce decree if asked for it at the interview. Bring it to the oath if the divorce is finalized between the interview and oath. And make an Infopass appointment before the oath to try to get the divorce updated in the system before the oath.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Bring it to the oath if the divorce is finalized between the interview and oath. And make an Infopass appointment before the oath to try to get the divorce updated in the system before the oath.
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I have a question. At the oath ceremony, do the oath ceremony staff know whether an oath take's case is 5 year or 3 year marriaged one? I assume they must know because Yes to
divorce question can make one category of applciant s still eligigble for oath but not the other.

But in case, still bring a copy of N400
 
marie_travel said:
Thank you everybody for your help. Does USCIS need to be informed of the pending divorce? Let's say at the time of the interview for citizenship, the divorce is not finalized yet. Do I have to tell them that or keep quiet?
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If you or your spouse filed for divorce you must report it, regardless of if it is finalized or not.
 
Had a chat with my husband. He has not filed for divorce yet and most likely won't. He says he needs time to think about our marriage ( I do not want divorce and am willing to do anything to save my marriage). He told me that I can file for citizenship under a 3 year rule if I want to. We will continue to live together at the same address, but I have to give him time, so communication will be limited and no sex for the time being until he figures things out. My question: Should I go ahead and file for citizenship now under the 3 year rule or would that be a bad idea since the marriage is on the rocks? There is a chance that we will stay together, but like I said we are having problems and he doesn't know yet what he will decide. Should I just wait and file on my own when I am eligible under 5 years which will be in september. Please any advice will be appreciated.
 
marie_travel said:
Thank you everybody for your help. Does USCIS need to be informed of the pending divorce? Let's say at the time of the interview for citizenship, the divorce is not finalized yet. Do I have to tell them that or keep quiet?
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Yes, I think so...if divorce papers are filed and you are drawing benefit under 3 year rule for N-400 Naturalization purposes, this is a material fact. Especially, at the time of interview, when you are under OATH. For 5 years process, you may still need to disclose the pending divorce, but USCIS probably will care less.
 
Bobsmyth said:
If you or your spouse filed for divorce you must report it, regardless of if it is finalized or not.
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That is not true when applying under the 5-year rule. The N-400 does not ask about whether there is a pending divorce, and marital union is not normally relevant to the 5-year rule. If the officer cares about it, let them ask. It is not mandatory to proactively disclose that information.
 
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